WordPress MU

Hello all,
As you know, I'm new to this forum, and as things are changing rapidly, I was hoping that perhaps a couple of the older hands might weigh in on the optimal upgrade methodology so as to disrupt newer testers somewhat less and to ensure that we can all quickly be on the same page to help bug squash!
Sample topics may include but are not limited to: backing up your database, nightly build installation technique, error reporting (that's truly useful :) )
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration of the same.

n00b out.

Thank you drmike for your link to:

http://trac.mu.wordpress.org/

where bugs are tracked and tickets are resolved!

I use the "install in a virgin test site, try it out, and then copy it over" method. I never put anything into a live environment unless 1) I know it works 100%, 2) I know it can't hurt anything else like a theme, and/or 3) I'm stuck and I need to do it now.

so you're suggesting a merge installation of newer pages once tested over functioning pages? I read somewhere on here that the recommended is a wipe and then upgrade via admin panel? please correct me if I'm wrong?